bottle the stars
by swoodilypooper
Summary: "I think the most frustrating thing is having all these dreams and ideas and not being able to do anything with them." When jaded aspiring architect Annabeth meets Percy, writer and chocolatier, at a bar on Christmas Eve sparks fly and stars are bottled. Who knows? Maybe along the way they might learn something from each other, and the world might be wonderful once more.


**bottle the stars**

She had promised herself that she wouldn't go to the bar that night, and she was so close to keeping her promise. It was just that sometimes coming home to an empty, dark apartment every night after ten hour shifts wore down her soul. Annabeth felt tired, the kind of tired that sleep had no power over. She felt tired deep, deep down - tired in her bones.

And that was how she found herself sitting behind the varnished, cherry wood counter, stirring idly at her vodka on the rocks, wondering how it had all gone so downhill so quickly. She tried to pinpoint exactly when her life had devolved into meaningless routine, but she couldn't tell.

Maybe it was after she had spent a year out of college, unemployed, trying to find work. With a wistful smile, she remembered how naive she had been at twenty two. Coming out of NYU with a degree in architecture, she had expected to take the world by storm. Monuments were going to be erected all across the country, and everyone was going to want something designed by the great Annabeth Chase.

That was the plan, but she must have gravely miscalculated to end up as a clerk at an architecture firm, running errands for the "real" architects, printing papers and grabbing coffee and the like. Her jaw clenched before she took a swig of her alcohol, trying to fight her growing frustration with the gentle, hazy buzz of hard liquor.

The front door opened, and Annabeth heard someone walk in. He plunked into the set right beside her, combing through his hair to get the snow out. Annabeth gave him a side-long glance, wondering how broken a person he was to have visited a bar on Christmas eve of all nights. The man was wearing a black coat and an emerald green scarf. His skin was pale, but his lips were already quirked upwards in a smile.

When he caught her looking, his smile widened slightly. He inclined his head courteously, and Annabeth grimaced. Maybe she was imagining how hard the new guy was judging her, and when she heard him hum a Christmas carol, Frosty the Snowman, under his breath, she let out an imperceptible sigh of relief. He seemed like he had good intentions.

The barkeep waited on the new arrival patiently. "What'll it be, sir?"

The man pushed his lips to one side as he thought, humming tunelessly under his breath, before he laughed a booming laugh that seemed to warm Annabeth's bones. "Ah, screw it! It's Christmas eve! I can't be stingy - bah humbug and all that, right? I'll have a glass of champagne- actually, make that two. Let's get this lovely lady here one too!" he said cheerily.

Annabeth's eyes widened and protests bubbled on her tongue, but the barkeep interrupted before she got the chance to say anything. "What type of champagne are we looking for today?" he asked.

The man looked at Annabeth. "What're you thinking? Any favorites in mind?" he asked.

Annabeth blinked. She didn't really drink champagne. The man must have read her mind or something because he grinned, and turned to the barkeep, saying, "Surprise us."

When he left, he looked back at her, extending his hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Percy. I hope you don't mind me being so intrusive. You just look like you could go for a good drink right about now," he said.

"I already have one," Annabeth began quietly before thinking better of it. She shook her head and said, "I'm Annabeth. Thanks for offering to buy me a glass. I know champagne's kind of pricey."

"We're not getting a glass; we're getting a bottle!" he said.

The barkeep returned before Annabeth could grace him with a response. He held a bottle out to show Percy, who looked at it with a carefully trained eye. "Would this be acceptable, sir? It's our Dom Perignon 2003, a deliciously fruity blend. Would you like a sample before you buy?" he asked.

Percy laughed and waved a hand dismissively. "Nope, I'll take it!" he said.

"Excellent, but I do have to ask. The bottle sells for a hundred and sixty dollars-" he began, but Percy interrupted.

"It's Christmas eve! What point is there in being frugal over the holidays?" he asked.

"Very well, sir. Enjoy," the bartender said, leaving them with the bottle before departing.

After he left, Annabeth whisper-screamed at her new companion, "A hundred and sixty dollars? Are you crazy? You don't even know me!"

Percy grinned in response, pouring them each a glass. He handed one to Annabeth, and looked at her politely as she looked from the glass to his face over and over again. Finally, she awkwardly grabbed the glass and held it daintily in her hand, wondering she should do next.

"It's customary to toast," Percy said, an amused twinkle in his eye.

"Oh. Oh, right," Annabeth said, somewhat flustered. She held up her glass and as Percy lightly hit it with his own, a clear tinkling note drifted into the melancholy atmosphere of the bar like the cry of an angel in a snowstorm.

"To new friends," Percy said simply, eyeing Annabeth before taking a small swig of the wine. Annabeth inclined her head in acknowledgement, somewhat ungracefully, before taking a gentle sip from her own glass.

It was like a scene from Ratatouille. Annabeth swore it was like a burst of colors, and a soft moan escaped her before she could stop it. It was a gentle fizzy sensation combined with the luxurious taste of tart grapes tied together beautifully with traces of licorice and spice. She certainly understood what all the hype was about now.

A soft laugh from Percy broke her out of her cocoon of pleasure, and a flush entered her cheeks. Looking out of her peripheral vision, she saw him looking at her with an amused look as he rested the side of his face against his hand. She repressed the urge to cover her face with her hands.

"Oh no, I've gone and embarrassed you, haven't I? Trust me, that's the sensation everyone has when they've had their first glass of really good champagne," he said, holding his hands up in placating gesture.

Annabeth looked at him suspiciously, trying to gauge whether or not he was making fun of her. Percy took another sip and hummed happily. He looked at her, asking, "You know what the monk Dom Perignon said to the other monks after he invented champagne?"

"No, what?" Annabeth asked curiously.

A slow, leisurely grin spread across his face. He raised a hand idly in the air and moved it like he was conducting an invisible orchestra. "He said, 'come quickly, I am tasting the stars!'"

Annabeth smiled lazily as well, nodding in agreement. "It's like he bottled the stars," she muttered.

Percy's eyes widened and he began to dig through a knapsack that Annabeth hadn't noticed before. He pulled a worn notepad and began to scribble furiously away at it.

"What're you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Getting it down on paper before it escapes," Percy said, his calmness contrasting with the manic fervor with which he wrote.

"What?" she repeated, bewildered. She leaned over and looked at the notepad, noticing that it was covered in random scribbles slanting every which way. There were random quotes inscribed along the lined margins, each more thought provoking than the last. One in particular stuck out to her.

_We caught ourselves dreaming of better tomorrows, too afraid to take a chance._

"That's beautiful," she whispered to herself, but somehow Percy heard.

"Huh? Which one?" he asked.

"That one," Annabeth said, pointing to the quote, "did you come up with that?"

Percy followed her finger and let out a little laugh. "Oh, that one! Yeah, I did. It's rather dreary, isn't it?" he asked.

Annabeth shook her head in protest. "No, it's beautiful. Really."

Maybe she was imagining it, but Annabeth thought she saw scarlet pepper his face as he looked pointedly at his notepad. "Thank you," he said softly, almost shyly.

"Which one did I inspire?"

"Oh, it's not done, and it isn't so much what you said, but the way you said it, if that makes sense. So far it's: she was the kind of girl that spoke with the weight of planets - bottling stars. That's all I have so far," he said, shrugging.

Annabeth blinked. "It's really good, but weight of planets? Really?" she teased.

He covered his face with hands adorably. "Now you're making fun of me," he protested.

Annabeth laughed and resisted the urge the squeeze him to death while she tried to pry his hands from his face. "I'm not! Honest!"

Eventually, Percy came out of hiding, thanks to Annabeth's coaxing, and he sheepishly put his notepad back into his knapsack. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked, and when Annabeth looked at him tentatively, he added, "I'll bring the champagne."

Annabeth sighed. Damn him for using her newfound weakness against her. They gathered their things, and Percy held the door open for her, annoyingly chivalrous . "I really hope you're not a rapist or something," she muttered.

Percy laughed his booming laugh again. "Well, it's a good thing that you see me in such a good light," he joked, and she stuck her tongue out at him in response. That made him laugh again, and Annabeth found herself smiling.

"Do you always buy champagne for random girls you meet in bars?" Annabeth prodded.

Percy looked at her and grinned. "Only on Christmas eve," he said, winking for effect. Annabeth laughed.

Reflexively, Annabeth looped her arm in his his and leaned into him, allowing the alcohol to work its magic. There was something about Percy that gave her a feeling of familiarity even though they had only just met. He was like a human sweater, and he made her smile, which was a bit of a difficult task of late.

"Champagne break," Percy declared, uncapping the bottle and drinking straight from it. Annabeth smacked his shoulder playfully.

"You miscreant! How dare you treat a bottle of champagne with such aplomb! Aren't you so supposed to worship it and sniff it and all that nonsense?" Annabeth cried out.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Percy said as Annabeth prized the bottle from his hands, drinking from it herself.

She gave him a stink eye, and took another swig just to spite him. The wine seemed to steal away the weariness steeped in her bones, and it warmed her from head to toe, giving her a heady feeling.

"So you're either really rich or really stupid for blowing nearly two hundred bucks on liquor. Oh god, you're an alcoholic, aren't you? I should have seen it before," Annabeth joked.

Percy shoved her. "Rude. I'm not rich or stupid. I'm part time writer, part time expensive candy store owner, so I have a bit of a soft spot for the finer things in life. Besides, it's Christmas, and you have to admit that this is better than you moping over a glass of vodka," he said.

Annabeth decided to overlook the vodka comment. "Candy store owner and writer, huh? Weird combo," she said.

"Yeah, I guess so, but it's a good one. We make truffles and everything, but we're really known for our hazelnut chocolate. I wish I had a box on me. Half the time at work, I just end up stealing from my own candy store, and I eat them while no one is looking," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Figures," Annabeth said, enjoying Percy's scoff of indignation. "What about the writer part? I didn't peg you as the writing type," she said.

"What's the writing type?" Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You know: broody, angsty loner that's more comfortable with a bottle of alcohol and a typewriter than he is with people," Annabeth said, shrugging.

"Stereotype much?" Percy said, sounding mildly offended. "There aren't really types of any kind of people. We are just who we are, and trying to put human beings into convenient little boxes to package the entirety of their identity is just wrong. I write because I like to, not because of any archetypes - simple as that."

"Oh, sorry for saying that then," Annabeth said, chastened.

Percy sighed. "It's not you. It's just that, I don't know. All my life, people always looked at me and told me I was too stupid to do anything just because I am this happy-go-lucky guy. I mean, people take life too seriously, in my opinion. I just live a different way, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily worse than what you or anybody else is used to. It's just that people judge me, and everyone else for that matter, too quickly. I just want to tell them to let me be me instead of trying to profile me, you know?" he rambled.

"That makes sense," Annabeth said, nodding. She kicked a pile of slush off the sidewalk, biting her lip as she thought about what to say.

"Hey, wanna do something fun?" Percy asked, looking at her with bright eyes.

"What do have in mind?" she asked.

He grinned in response. "I don't want to spoil the surprise," he said.

Annabeth followed him as he led her through the streets of New York City until they found a park that overlooked the Hudson. Despite her curiosity, Annabeth didn't ask Percy anymore questions as he led them to two metal trashcans. He took the top off each of them and grinned as he handed one to Annabeth. She wrinkled her nose as she accepted it, holding it gingerly in her hands.

"What am I doing with this trashcan lid?" Annabeth huffed as Percy led her up a snowy hill.

Percy beamed at her, looking over his shoulder. "We are going sledding!"

"You can't possibly be serious," Annabeth said, flabbergasted.

He looked offended. "Of course I am! I happen to take fun very seriously," he said gravely.

Percy set his lid down on the snow and sat down on top of it, Indian style. He looked up at Annabeth expectantly until she did the same. "Criss cross apple sauce," Percy reminded her as she struggled to sit down.

The metal dug into her skin, and she had half a mind to call it a night and take a taxi home. Percy was definitely crazy, no doubt, but for some reason, she found herself staying anyways. He looked over at her after setting the champagne down on the snow.

"Ready?" he asked with nervous excitement.

"As I'll ever be," she grumbled. Percy stuck his tongue out in response.

"You are no fun," he pouted adorably.

Annabeth groaned. "Stop doing that!"

"What?" he asked.

"Acting like a little kid, while somehow still being adorable. It's really annoying," she huffed.

He blinked owlishly. "Ready, set, go!" he said quickly, propelling himself with his hands.

"Hey wait!" Annabeth called out, doing the same thing, but Percy was already off and running. They slid down the hill surprisingly quickly. Annabeth was amused to learn that trash can lids made good sleds, even though they weren't the most comfortable things to use.

She found herself smiling so hard it hurt the entire ride down, and by the time she got all the way down to the bottom, she had a childish urge to do it again. Percy had a smug smirk on his face when he saw the excited look on her face, and they began their trek up the hill again wordlessly. The "I told you so" was implied.

~oOo~

Annabeth saw her breath forming miniature clouds, and she wondered, not really about something specific. She just wondered. Percy hugged his stomach and leaned forward, looking at the river as well.

"You're thinking deep thoughts," he said.

Annabeth laughed. "You overestimate me."

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"Is it bad that this is the most fun I've had in a long time?" Annabeth asked, looking at his orphic eyes.

Percy laughed. "Not at all! Sledding is awesome, and anyone that thinks different is a hater."

She bit her lip in response. "It's just that life hasn't really been fun much lately. I got out of college, hoping to be an architect. Finding work was a pain in the ass, so I settled for some clerk job at Hobson and Mary, you know that big firm on 5th avenue? Well, now I'm just another cog in the machine, running errands and grabbing coffee for the big wigs upstairs. I've been looking for other job openings, but in this economy, nothing's turning up," she explained.

"Why don't you try to start your own firm? Then you could be your own boss," Percy said.

"I'm not that rich, and banks are being stingy with their loans. My current standing and the economy hardly inspires confidence to lend. I guess I'm just stuck between a rock and hard place," she said.

Percy hummed in agreement. "I think the most frustrating thing is having all these dreams and ideas, and not being able to do anything with them," Annabeth said.

"Well, you know, when I started writing, I didn't really do it to publish anything. I mean, I still haven't published anything, but I'm working on it. The point is that I just wrote for fun, and I just got really good at it. I might be wrong, but it sounds like you've sort of given up on architecture. Like, when's the last time you've drawn a building, just for the hell of it?" he asked.

Annabeth thought about it, and her stomach dropped when she realized that he was right. Failure had stolen the fun out of an activity that she had loved since middle school. Even when she was bored at work, she never bothered to doodle random, impossible buildings on scratch paper anymore.

She was in the midst of these profound thoughts when she suddenly struck with some powdery and cold. She shrieked as Percy roared in laughter. Annabeth promptly hit him with a snowball of her own, right in the face. As he gasped and attempted to get rid of the snow on his face, Annabeth tackled him into the snow.

"Oof," Percy grunted.

"You loser! I was thinking and you hit me with a snowball? What is this, the third grad-" Annabeth said when Percy suddenly leaned up and kissed her.

He fell back down, his head on the snow, bright eyes shining up at her as she gaped at him. Then she leaned down herself and kissed him again. His hands cupped her face as her fingers tangled into his snowy hair. Annabeth could feel the stubble on his face tickle the skin of her face, and all she could think about was how he tasted like hazelnut and champagne.

"Wow," Percy said, breathing heavily after they broke apart.

"Yeah, wow," Annabeth said, gasping for breath.

"What's your last name?" he asked suddenly.

Annabeth grinned. "Chase. Annabeth Chase."

Percy nodded. "Percy Jackson. At least, I think that's what my name was. My brain's sort of turned to mush at this point."

Annabeth laughed and rolled off him, onto the snow. She let out a little yelp at the cold. After a second, she moved her legs and her arms to make a snow angel, just for the hell of it. If tonight was a night to feel like a kid again, then she might as well go the extra mile.

"Sorry about that. Should have warned you before hand, but in my defense, I've been trying my best not to do that all night," he said.

Annabeth ignored the prickly heat flooding her cheeks and said, "I didn't mind. It was nice."

"Nice? I was going for mind blowing," he said. When she laughed, he continued, saying, "Earth-shaking, life changing, a Christmas miracle."

Annabeth turned her head and gave him a quick peck. "Don't flatter yourself. It was nice. Nice is good," she said, suppressing laughter.

He made a show of looking dejected. "You're a hurtful person. The correct response was, 'It was all those things and more.'"

Annabeth snorted. "As if your ego needed inflating," she said.

Percy scoffed indignantly. "Hey! I'll have you know I am the epitome of a humble artist," he replied.

"Sure, sure," Annabeth chuckled.

"I liked you better when I was kissing you," Percy grumbled.

Annabeth laughed, and looked up at the gray sky wondering what time it was. It was still dark outside, but she had the feeling that it wasn't going to be day anytime soon. In the midst of their banter, she hadn't noticed that it had begun to snow. Snowflakes began to pour out of the clouds, floating leisurely, blocking the sky with their multitude. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, absorbing the night air and feeling the snowflakes hit her skin, sending sparks of frost racing through her body.

Annabeth hummed to herself. "You know, it's sort of hitting me all at once right now that we're not half-empty, like we make ourselves out to be," she said.

"How do you mean?" Percy asked.

"Like the thing you wrote about me, right? We all have the ability to bottle stars and speak planets into being. We're capable of so much more than we think we are, and it's just that I'm realizing that all that time I spent being frustrated about my job was stupid because it taught me that I was powerless when I wasn't. We are powerful. We are different. And in some ways, we are everlasting. I don't know, I just think that's something really special," she rambled.

She looked over when she saw Percy fumbling inside his knapsack again. He started writing furiously, and she found herself focusing on the intense, clairvoyant look in his eyes, like the universe had whispered its deepest secrets to him and everything made sense for once. "I finished it!" he said triumphantly.

"Hmm?"

"Your quote. I finished it: she was the kind of girl that spoke with the weight of planets - creating universes and bottling stars with her careless ways. It's sort of cheesy, but I like it. I don't know, for some reason, I feel like it fits you," he said ardently.

Annabeth smiled. "I like it. It was mind blowing," she said.

Percy smiled so widely it hurt.

* * *

**A/N: I wrote this for a Christmas forum challenge, but it didn't actually get finished in time. Then I got caught in a whirlwind of college apps and festivities so I didn't really have time to get back to it. Anyhow, it's a little late, it's not all that amazing or anything, but meh. I've been trying to make my characters more human, and I feel like I'm improving and whatnot. I dunno, I hope everyone likes it, be sure to let me know what you think, and as always: Follow, Favorite, and Review!**


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